Clifford Birdinground is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

and member of the

Crow Nation The Crow, whose Exonym and endonym, autonym is Apsáalooke (), also spelled Absaroka, are Native Americans in the United States, Native Americans living primarily in southern Montana. Today, the Crow people have a federally recognized tribe, th ...

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbi ...

. Birdinground served as the Chairman of the Crow Nation from 2000 to 2002. Birdinground's predecessor, former Chairwoman

Clara Nomee Clara Mae White Hip Nomee (May 12, 1938 – January 31, 2012) was an American politician and tribal leader who served as the Crow Chairperson, Chairwoman of the Crow Nation of Montana for five-terms from 1990 to 2000. Nomee was the first woma ...

, was indicted in 1997 convicted of

felony theft Theft is the act of taking another person's property or services without that person's permission or consent with the intent to deprive the rightful owner of it. The word ''theft'' is also used as a synonym or informal shorthand term for some ...

of tribal land in September 1998. However, her conviction to did not prohibit her from holding tribal office. She ran for re-election for a sixth term in 2000. However, Birdinground won the May 2000 election, defeating Nomee with 67% of the vote. Birdinground took office in 2000. Upon taking office, Birdinground canceled all deals and transactions made by the Nomee administration following her 1997

indictment An indictment ( ) is a formal accusation that a legal person, person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that use the concept of felony, felonies, the most serious criminal offence is a felony; jurisdictions that do not use the felonies concep ...

. He also fired approximately 130 tribal government employees. Birdinground pleaded guilty to one count of

bribery Bribery is the Offer and acceptance, offering, Gift, giving, Offer and acceptance, receiving, or Solicitation, soliciting of any item of value to influence the actions of an official, or other person, in charge of a public or legal duty. With reg ...

U.S. federal court The federal judiciary of the United States is one of the three branches of the federal government of the United States organized under the United States Constitution and laws of the federal government. The U.S. federal judiciary consists primaril ...

in 2002, and resigned from office in a letter of resignation dated September 5, 2002. He was sentenced to 37 months in prison in September 2003 and, after a series of appeals, was ordered to begin serving his sentence January 4, 2007, at the

Florence Federal Correctional Complex The Federal Correctional Complex, Florence (FCC Florence) is a United States federal prison complex for male inmates in Colorado. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice, and consis ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

. Birdinground was succeeded by interim Crow Vice Chairman Vincent Goes Ahead Jr. upon his resignation in September 2002. Goes Ahead, who had been elected vice chairman in 2000, ran for the special election to complete the remainder of Birdinground's unexpired term in November 2002. However, Goes Ahead was defeated in the election by

Carl Venne Carl Venne (July 20, 1946 – February 15, 2009), whose Crow name was Aashiise Dakatak Baacheitchish, was, until his death, the chairman of the executive branch of the Crow Nation. He won a November 2002 special election held after the Septem ...

. Venne received 1,589 votes to win, while Goes Ahead received 1,481 votes. Venne was sworn in as Birdinground's permanent successor on November 12, 2002. Goes Ahead remained Vice Chairman until his term expired in 2004.

References

Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Chairpersons of the Crow Nation Native American leaders 21st-century Native Americans {{NativeAmerican-politician-stub